Stormthroe
2015-04-11, 12:52 PM
Hi all!
For those who haven't met me, I am Stormthroe. I'm new to the forum, and this will be my first posting. What I have been working on is building a world for my players to campaign in that is filled with all manner of stories and plots, open for exploration with plenty of intrigue if they desire. This all encompassing world is known as Vasana. Thus far, all I have completed is a rough background to how the world began and some rough ideas on its shape and the way races will be involved with one another.
What I'd like is for this lovely community to help me design the world; I have many ideas, but a few pairs of eyes are welcome. Add to this the fact you folks seem to have brilliant work which I haven't had time to look over, creative ideas are sure to flow and I can see what I like to help give my players some variation!
So, here is the background so far; I openly welcome comments, criticisms, and critiques.
World Background
In the very oldest stories, tales from long before the days of written history, it is said that Ujin the Wanderer stepped forth from the Aether and into this world. Vasana was a world of darkness – no sun, no sky, no life. There was but stone and cold on its surface; a lifeless rock floating through the Void. Ujin smiled that day, for he had found exactly what he had been looking for; a new, unborn world not yet touched by the other Immortals and ready to be shaped. The Wanderer turned, touching the very stone he had used to traverse the Aether, and through that act he opened The Path. Through that mystical portal came the Council; the other 12 Immortals who followed him to help shape Vasana. Together, the Council began to build the world; they sowed the earth, poured the seas, tamed the darkness, and awakened the light. Vasana was born.
At the edge of the world, where Ujin had first stepped onto Vasana, the Council built a great portal to link the world they had built to the Astral Plane, and another on the opposite edge to help their new child grow. Magic came into the world, restrained by the Council as not to overwhelm their newborn world. However, with Vasana flourishing, the creation of the gates had an unexpected side effect; while magic flowed into the world, the voice of Life also flowed out, into the Aether for any who were listening…and the first to hear were the Dragons.
Thus began the Dragon Wars.
From the very gate that had first brought the Council to Vasana, the first of the dragons began to spill into the world, and with them came the roiling power of Chaos. Though the Council had raised the mortal races, the dragons controlled the same measure of power, and the mortal races split as some hailed the dragons as gods. With their remaining followers, the Council warred against the dragons and those who had sided with them. Millions died, and empires that had taken many years to rise were destroyed as the titanic forces of the Council and the dragons clashed. For centuries, the dragons held the upper hand for they were many in number, and the Council with all its power could not stem the tide. That was, until Ujin cast himself into the portal that he had opened to come to Vasana, sacrificing himself to seal it. Even as the portal turned to rubble, the rest of the Gods assaulted the dragons with renewed vigor, cutting off the head of the dragon armies by destroying their overlord before turning on their hordes.
When the dust settled, only 10 of the original 13 Immortals remained, the other three lost during the conflict. The mortal races were scattered, and many empires had been destroyed. Entire continents had sunk beneath the seas in the struggle. Together, the remaining 10 Immortals began to rebuild, forging what remained of Vasana into a world where the mortal races could still live. History became myth. Myth became legend. The dragons who survived fled into the world to hide, scattered back to their own infighting without a strong leader to rule them. The 10 retreated from the world to leave it in peace, instead acting as gods of other realms did.
Now, a new era has begun. Life has returned to Vasana. Descendants of the survivors of the Dragon War have forged new kingdoms and empires, but none rival the great lands of the first age. Secrets lie in forgotten ruins buried in the earth. Powers that should not exist lie dormant, waiting for one misstep to be unleashed once more upon the world. New gods from other realms have reached their hands through the Astral Plane and into Vasana, to play mortals to their own fancies.
The Age of Heroes has begun.
First Thoughts
My first thoughts on my write-up here are that while I like the portals, I think I'd like to do something else with them. For example, for the one that is destroyed, I'd like to make it so that wild energy from the Astral Plane turned the entire or a majority of the continent on which it stood into a wasteland. I'm figuring something very wild and untamed, like a wound where the planes blend together. Alternatively, I figure it could be something akin to a Dead Lands feel, where very little besides monsters and the undead can survive.
I would also like to include a continent with either Lizardfolk or Dragonborn serving as the primary residents; I imagine in this world, that Dragonborn are shunned and untrusted as everywhere but with a bit more towards open hostility, while the Lizardfolk I actually would like to see as followers of one of the Council, who could be considered a "good" monster race in this world.
My initial plans are to have the Lizardfolk primarily dwell in jungles, and the three main factions of elves live in their respective locales. The wood elves are going to thrive in an ancient forest, thus far still unnamed, and remain almost entirely secluded from their kin; the high elves I'm thinking will be partnered with humans in several places, and possibly serving as the "guardians" of this world in that as the longest lived and most magically inclined of the races, they take a stance similar to Tolkien's elves. Lastly, the Drow or dark elves are going to be a unique race in this setting in that they do dwell on the surface, however, it will be in either a dangerous, terrifying land (like the land around the portal) or something else suitably twisted.
Edit 2: I just completed my initial draft of a map! No features, just major landmass in a pseudo-pangean set up. I could expand the world from here and use this map as the main continent down the line.
LINK TO MAP (http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t282/Stormthroe/VasanaMap_zps1rrzmqcs.jpeg?t=1428714557)
For those who haven't met me, I am Stormthroe. I'm new to the forum, and this will be my first posting. What I have been working on is building a world for my players to campaign in that is filled with all manner of stories and plots, open for exploration with plenty of intrigue if they desire. This all encompassing world is known as Vasana. Thus far, all I have completed is a rough background to how the world began and some rough ideas on its shape and the way races will be involved with one another.
What I'd like is for this lovely community to help me design the world; I have many ideas, but a few pairs of eyes are welcome. Add to this the fact you folks seem to have brilliant work which I haven't had time to look over, creative ideas are sure to flow and I can see what I like to help give my players some variation!
So, here is the background so far; I openly welcome comments, criticisms, and critiques.
World Background
In the very oldest stories, tales from long before the days of written history, it is said that Ujin the Wanderer stepped forth from the Aether and into this world. Vasana was a world of darkness – no sun, no sky, no life. There was but stone and cold on its surface; a lifeless rock floating through the Void. Ujin smiled that day, for he had found exactly what he had been looking for; a new, unborn world not yet touched by the other Immortals and ready to be shaped. The Wanderer turned, touching the very stone he had used to traverse the Aether, and through that act he opened The Path. Through that mystical portal came the Council; the other 12 Immortals who followed him to help shape Vasana. Together, the Council began to build the world; they sowed the earth, poured the seas, tamed the darkness, and awakened the light. Vasana was born.
At the edge of the world, where Ujin had first stepped onto Vasana, the Council built a great portal to link the world they had built to the Astral Plane, and another on the opposite edge to help their new child grow. Magic came into the world, restrained by the Council as not to overwhelm their newborn world. However, with Vasana flourishing, the creation of the gates had an unexpected side effect; while magic flowed into the world, the voice of Life also flowed out, into the Aether for any who were listening…and the first to hear were the Dragons.
Thus began the Dragon Wars.
From the very gate that had first brought the Council to Vasana, the first of the dragons began to spill into the world, and with them came the roiling power of Chaos. Though the Council had raised the mortal races, the dragons controlled the same measure of power, and the mortal races split as some hailed the dragons as gods. With their remaining followers, the Council warred against the dragons and those who had sided with them. Millions died, and empires that had taken many years to rise were destroyed as the titanic forces of the Council and the dragons clashed. For centuries, the dragons held the upper hand for they were many in number, and the Council with all its power could not stem the tide. That was, until Ujin cast himself into the portal that he had opened to come to Vasana, sacrificing himself to seal it. Even as the portal turned to rubble, the rest of the Gods assaulted the dragons with renewed vigor, cutting off the head of the dragon armies by destroying their overlord before turning on their hordes.
When the dust settled, only 10 of the original 13 Immortals remained, the other three lost during the conflict. The mortal races were scattered, and many empires had been destroyed. Entire continents had sunk beneath the seas in the struggle. Together, the remaining 10 Immortals began to rebuild, forging what remained of Vasana into a world where the mortal races could still live. History became myth. Myth became legend. The dragons who survived fled into the world to hide, scattered back to their own infighting without a strong leader to rule them. The 10 retreated from the world to leave it in peace, instead acting as gods of other realms did.
Now, a new era has begun. Life has returned to Vasana. Descendants of the survivors of the Dragon War have forged new kingdoms and empires, but none rival the great lands of the first age. Secrets lie in forgotten ruins buried in the earth. Powers that should not exist lie dormant, waiting for one misstep to be unleashed once more upon the world. New gods from other realms have reached their hands through the Astral Plane and into Vasana, to play mortals to their own fancies.
The Age of Heroes has begun.
First Thoughts
My first thoughts on my write-up here are that while I like the portals, I think I'd like to do something else with them. For example, for the one that is destroyed, I'd like to make it so that wild energy from the Astral Plane turned the entire or a majority of the continent on which it stood into a wasteland. I'm figuring something very wild and untamed, like a wound where the planes blend together. Alternatively, I figure it could be something akin to a Dead Lands feel, where very little besides monsters and the undead can survive.
I would also like to include a continent with either Lizardfolk or Dragonborn serving as the primary residents; I imagine in this world, that Dragonborn are shunned and untrusted as everywhere but with a bit more towards open hostility, while the Lizardfolk I actually would like to see as followers of one of the Council, who could be considered a "good" monster race in this world.
My initial plans are to have the Lizardfolk primarily dwell in jungles, and the three main factions of elves live in their respective locales. The wood elves are going to thrive in an ancient forest, thus far still unnamed, and remain almost entirely secluded from their kin; the high elves I'm thinking will be partnered with humans in several places, and possibly serving as the "guardians" of this world in that as the longest lived and most magically inclined of the races, they take a stance similar to Tolkien's elves. Lastly, the Drow or dark elves are going to be a unique race in this setting in that they do dwell on the surface, however, it will be in either a dangerous, terrifying land (like the land around the portal) or something else suitably twisted.
Edit 2: I just completed my initial draft of a map! No features, just major landmass in a pseudo-pangean set up. I could expand the world from here and use this map as the main continent down the line.
LINK TO MAP (http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t282/Stormthroe/VasanaMap_zps1rrzmqcs.jpeg?t=1428714557)